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NCAA Tournament Second Round Recap - Xavier vs Pittsburgh (6) Xavier 71, (3) Pittsburgh 68
Jordan Crawford scored 27 points to lead the sixth-seeded Xavier Musketeers past the third-seeded Pitt Panthers, 71-68. Xavier led the entire second half after taking control of the game with a 16-0 scoring run that started midway through the first half. Still, Pitt had two shots to send it into overtime after Xavier's Dante Jackson, an 81 % free throw shooter, missed two foul shots with seven seconds left to keep the Musketeer lead at three. Pitt’s Ashton Gibbs got a good look beyond the arc, but the shot bounced off of the rim. It went out of bounds to the Panthers with four tenths of a second left, but Brad Wanamaker’s desperation toss off the subsequent inbounds pass was short. Forward Jason Love had a strong game for the Musketeers, scoring 14 points and grabbing eight rebounds. The Musketeers shot 48 % from the field including 8-of-16 from three-point range. Pitt got off 14 more shots than Xavier (64-50) but shot just 39 %. Gibbs scored 19 points to lead the Panthers. Pitt got a double-double from Wanamaker, who scored 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Gilbert Brown came off of the bench to score 14 points including a trio of three-pointers down the stretch that kept his team in it and allowed the Panthers to have the chance to tie in the latter stages of regulation.
Xavier held a 35-28 lead at intermission thanks to a 16-0 run that started midway through the first half. Pitt, in its own right, held a slight lead for much of the first 10 minutes of play. However, with the Panthers holding an 18-15 lead, the Musketeers went to work. Jason Love worked his way in for a layup and then Crawford gave Xavier the lead at 20-18 with an old-fashioned three-point play. While Pitt was missing seven straight shots, Crawford scored on a fast break and then Jackson nailed threes on consecutive trips down the floor to put Xavier up 31-18. It looked like Xavier might put it out of reach at that point, but Gibbs, who scored 18 of the Panthers’ 28 first-half points, drained a pair of threes himself to enable Pitt to keep the Xavier lead to single digits at halftime. Gibbs was 6-of-12 from the field in the first half, including 4-of-9 from 3-point range. Panthers not named Gibbs were shooting just 3 for 18 (17 %) at halftime. Xavier played solid basketball in the first half, shooting 45 % and turning the ball over just twice. That stretch of solid basketball put just enough points in the bank for the Musketeers to hold off the Panthers down the stretch.
Next up: Xavier plays second-seeded Kansas State on Thursday from Salt Lake City. The game will be the nightcap of a West Regional semifinal doubleheader. Xavier is now in the Sweet 16 for the third straight season.
By: Rich Tandler |